Android and Me |
- 4 reasons why the Moto X will live up to the hype
- Motorola’s newest ad highlights the Moto X, designed by you, assembled in the USA
- Android on top in Europe, iOS growing in US
- YouTube app to get new multitasking; Google continues to sever core apps
- Pebble smart watch available on BestBuy.com before many pre-orders received
- HTC kills the One S, leaves Android 4.1, broken promises at the scene
- HTC One Android 4.2.2 update commences roll-out across Asia
- Meet Android and Me: Brooks Barnard
- AT&T turns on 35 new 4G LTE markets, expands in 17 others
- Motorola DROID ULTRA pops up on new landing page
| 4 reasons why the Moto X will live up to the hype Posted: 02 Jul 2013 05:51 PM PDT Excitement surrounding Motorola’s upcoming Moto X is reaching a fever pitch. This kind of hype is usually met with disappointment once a phone is actually released, but the Moto X is the real deal. We’ve slowly but surely gathered more and more information on the Moto X over the past few months, and it seems like it’s all coming true. So why do we think the Moto X will live up to the hype? Here’s four good reasons. 1. “The first smartphone that you can design yourself.”Months ago, we first brought you whispers of a rumor that the Moto X would be totally customizable. From top to bottom, inside and out. Where most phones allow you to customize things like the amount of storage, the Moto X is going to take it to the next level. According to sources with information on the matter, the Moto X will come in as many as 20 different colors, and casing options will include everything from wood and plastic to metal and carbon fiber. We still believe this to be true. And Motorola seems to be confirming it. In an ad Motorola will be running during the Fourth of July holiday, Motorola mentions that the Moto X will be “the first smartphone that you can design yourself.” If you were merely able to choose between a few different colors and pick 16GB or storage over 32GB, Motorola would not be hitting this customization aspect so hard. We have every reason to believe that with the Moto X, you will be able to create the phone of your dreams. How’s that for living up to the hype? 2. Made in the USA.Apple is all about their products being “Designed by Apple in California.” But on the back of every iPhone, right next to that it says, “Assembled in China.” Apple houses all of their designers in California, but when it comes to actually making the iPhone, it’s off to a foreign country. This is common practice for all manufacturers, and to be fair, Apple is even trying to back away from it. But Motorola is going to beat Apple to the punch. Also highlighted in the Fourth of July ad, the Moto X will be designed, engineered and assembled in the USA. This could be absolutely huge for sales. I’d venture to guess most people could care less about where their smartphone is assembled, but they’re going to try to make you. And while they’re at it, Motorola is going to cash in on those who do. What’s going to matter the most is if the Moto X is still affordable after completely customizing it and building it in the USA. 3. It’s all about the Benjamins.With the hyper-customization and assembly in the good ole US of A, you’d think the Moto X would cost a ton of money. Right? Not quite. From the very earliest rumors, the Moto X has been slated to be as cheap as $199 without a two-year contract. Yes, without a contract. Google has already subsidized the price of the Nexus 4 down to as low as $299, and that’s with a third-party manufacturer. Dennis Woodside, Motorola’s CEO, said it best: One of the areas we think is really open for Motorola is building a low-cost, high quality market. Feature phones sell for $30; high-end smartphones cost $650. That gap won't persist.Dennis WoodsideMotorola Google has complete control over Motorola now; so much so that Google is in the logo. You can expect Google to do whatever they want. I’ll explain what this means for software in a moment, but for hardware, it means Google can sell things for as cheap as they want in order to drive sales and make money on ads. The Moto X is expected to launch with a 1.7GHz dual-core MSM8960 Pro, Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 720p display resolution, 10MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera. As for how it’s going to be sold, we’re still hearing through an online store, think Google Play, and through carriers. Which means it will be available everywhere Motorola can make it available. There are still a handful of Droid phones Motorola has to push out before their product portfolio becomes all Google, but the Moto X will show us how they plan to do it from here on out. Google is placing a huge amount of advertising dollars around the Moto X. Unlike the Nexus 4, people will know it exists. And at around $200 to $350 off-contract, you can expect it to sell like crazy. 4. It’s alive!How smart is your smartphone? It can sync your bookmarks between Chrome on your desktop and Chrome on your phone, but only after you go through the setup process. Open a few apps, fumble around some menus and press some more buttons. Most of that you have to do every time you want your smartphone to do smart things. With the Moto X, not anymore. Back in April, we told you how the Moto X will feature “creepy intelligence.” It’s going to know when you want to do things, before you even tell it. And if you do have to tell it, it will always be listening, ready for action. Earlier, we told you the Moto X would launch with a MSM8960pro. But that’s not all. There are actually going to be eight different “cores” making the Moto X a contextually aware information powerhouse. They break down like this:
No one else has a chip configuration like this. It’s exclusive to Motorola and is what will make this phone smarter than any other phone before it. Google has made it clear that Motorola is being given no special treatment, but it’s clear that Google is playing a role in the production of the Moto X. Google makes stock Android, with all the bare essentials. Google is going to make the Moto X will all the little things that they really want in a phone that don’t make it into stock Android for one reason or another. Think of Motorola’s products as getting the moonshot thinking approach. If anything were to kill Nexus, this would be it. Wrap upSo there you have it. Four reasons why we think the Moto X will live up to the hype. It’s going to be totally customizable, made in the USA and feature never before seen intelligence in a smartphone, all at price that’s almost too good to be true. I know I personally will be buying one. How about you? |
| Motorola’s newest ad highlights the Moto X, designed by you, assembled in the USA Posted: 02 Jul 2013 01:53 PM PDT It looks like Motorola has finally gone official with the Moto X! And their announcement is huge. The device will be customizable to some degree, and it will be assembled in the USA. This is absolutely fantastic news. Here’s their new ad, which is set to run in the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post tomorrow, June 3:
Motorola has received a full re-imagining, with a new colorful logo stating that they are a Google company. It looks like they have also re-imagined their products; a device that will be customizable and built in the US is something we haven’t seen so far. Could this be a game changer in an industry that pumps out monotonous slabs of smartphone? They’re targeting July 4 for their advertising to push the idea of freedom, hence the ability to design the phone yourself. We can’t wait to find out to what degree you can customize it! What we are doing which is very different is assembling Moto X smartphones here in the US in our assembly plant in Ft. Worth, Texas. What better time than July 4 to come with a message like that?Brian WallaceMotorola There are currently no details about the phone or the release date, so it looks like we’ll have to wait. However, Motorola already had a lot of hype surrounding this phone, and it probably grow a significant amount with this ad. They are certainly grabbing people’s attention, and that’s something Motorola hasn’t done in a while. We’re loving where this is going, and we can’t wait to see what comes of it. What do you think of the new Motorola and the Moto X? |
| Android on top in Europe, iOS growing in US Posted: 02 Jul 2013 11:41 AM PDT Just how much weight one should put behind market share is debatable, but recent numbers from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech certainly make Android look good. According to Kantar Worldpanel, Android now owns a whopping 70.4 percent of the European market, while iOS sits at 17.8 percent. You can argue web usage, Black Friday shopping numbers and customer satisfaction surveys all you want, but the numbers don’t lie: In Europe, Android is crushing the competition. While iOS struggles to break 20 percent of the market and Windows Phone struggles to break 8 percent, Android is sitting comfortably with nearly three-fourths of the total smartphone market. As smartphone penetration will sooner than later be reaching its peak in Europe, it’s going to be up to Android manufacturers like Samsung, Sony and HTC to retain customers. Apple excels in this area, but the competition isn’t asleep at the wheel. The market share story in the US paints a much different picture. Both Android and iOS are sitting at about 50 percent (Android at 52 and iOS at 42), but iOS growth has Android beat. If current growth patterns continue, iOS will take the lead in market share in the US. No matter how you look at the numbers from across the globe, it’s safe to say that Android and iOS together account for nearly all smartphone usage. Neither smartphone giant will be going anywhere anytime soon. |
| YouTube app to get new multitasking; Google continues to sever core apps Posted: 02 Jul 2013 11:17 AM PDT A user on the Verge forums going by the name ryan_socio, who has correctly leaked information on Google products in the past, is back again with some new information on an upcoming update to the YouTube app and details on how Google plans to further sever its core apps from Android. The new YouTube app’s big feature is going to be enhanced multitasking. The app will look the same, save for a small arrow that will allow users to shrink the currently playing video and continue using the app to search and browse other videos. As of right now, the feature is only available within the YouTube app itself, but by release, it should be available system wide. In other words, you should be able to keep a small video window playing in the bottom corner of your device while you reply to email or check Facebook. Ryan shared other details on how Google plans to continue severing core apps, like the People and camera app. He wouldn’t go into specifics, only saying that, “they (Google) plan to do it with pretty much every app.” For most of you, this should come as no surprise. We’ve talked about how Google is enabling users to not only enjoy the stock Android experience on any device by downloading every piece of software separately, but how severing core apps from Android allows Google to keep all Android users, despite the actual Android version they’re using, up-to-date with the latest and greatest Google has to offer. It’s great that Google has finally found a way to tackle the “F” word. Android updates may be a little more boring now, but this new method is best for everyone. |
| Pebble smart watch available on BestBuy.com before many pre-orders received Posted: 02 Jul 2013 10:48 AM PDT It looks like the Pebble smart watch is facing a similar situation to the OUYA. The team behind the Pebble has announced that they have partnered with Best Buy to sell the accessories online. You can get them at bestbuy.com/pebble starting today, and if you don’t want to shop online, they will be available in stores starting July 7 here in the US. Why is this a problem? Many people who pre-ordered the device on the Pebble website months ago have not received their devices. It’s pretty ridiculous that old pre-orders aren’t being fulfilled faster than the devices can come to stores. Regular people off the street can now have a Pebble faster than those dedicated enough to pre-order months in advance. Makes the pre-order a bit useless, no? This is the same situation the OUYA faced, except instead of slower-than-retail pre-orders, the Kickstarter backers weren’t getting their devices. That’s quite a bit worse. However, that was allegedly due to a shipping issue. Still, these kinds of situations really hurt loyalty, so we hope the Pebble team can figure it out and make it up to those with pre-orders. If you have not paid for your pre-order, you do not need to take action to cancel it. Just ignore it and go buy a Pebble if you want it sooner. If you have paid for your pre-order, they say it should be in Step 3 of the shipping process. Check your Pebble account for more details. And if you want to learn more, hit the source link and read the blog post. Are you upset because of this? |
| HTC kills the One S, leaves Android 4.1, broken promises at the scene Posted: 02 Jul 2013 10:00 AM PDT The HTC One S isn’t a very old phone. It was released less than a year and a half ago, so many owners are still stuck in a contract. And in an unsurprising move, HTC has killed the device off, stating that it will not be receiving any more Android updates. Yes, it’ll be stuck on its current build of Android 4.1.1. Don’t you think that’s a bit sad? We can confirm that the HTC One S will not receive further Android OS updates and will remain on the current version of Android and HTC Sense. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed the HTC One S to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences.HTC If you’re a One S owner, you should be very upset. HTC promised you this update. They specifically stated a few months ago that the One S would be one of the devices to get Sense 5 and a bunch of new features from the One. HTC will be offering upgrades to some of its existing devices in the next few months, including global variants of HTC One X, One X+, One S and the HTC Butterfly. Also, note that some features enabled by the new HTC One hardware will not be available in the software updates.HTC The HTC One S is a plenty capable phone, so why isn’t it getting the update it was promised? Most likely, HTC just wants to give up on their older “mid-range” devices, even though the One S was a very nice device. But as Samsung updates their old phones, whether high-end or low-end, with new versions of Android and TouchWiz, this makes HTC look so bad. The Samsung Galaxy S II, which is a year older than the One S, runs a newer version of Android. This move does nothing but disappoint people and break brand loyalty. Who wants to buy a phone that might be abandoned so soon? It’s sad that HTC took this path. Obviously, nothing good will come out of it. Is HTC really serious about keeping their phones updated? Have they really changed? Will the HTC One Mini face the same fate down the line? The One S was just too dang young. What do you think of HTC killing off the One S? |
| HTC One Android 4.2.2 update commences roll-out across Asia Posted: 02 Jul 2013 08:47 AM PDT The Android 4.2.2 update for the HTC One has arrived! HTC has not made any official announcements regarding the software update for its flagship Android phone, but multiple sources have confirmed that the OTA update is now available for the HTC One in Taiwan and for the dual-SIM variant in China. While the updates for the two devices are substantially different in size (465 MB for the original HTC One versus 175 MB for the dual-SIM version), they both seem to deliver the same new features. Users who install the Android 4.2.2 update on their HTC One can expect to see a handful of new features, including lock screen widgets, home button customization (long press for menu, swipe up to launch Google Now), quick settings in the notification shade, advanced notifications, option to show battery percentage in the status bar, launcher bar enhancements, tweaks to BlinkFeed, improved HTC Zoe file management and six new video highlight themes. HTC has not revealed any details regarding the HTC One’s Android 4.2.2 roll-out schedule, but we suspect it will hit a few more countries across Asia before it makes an appearance in Europe and North America. What new Android 4.2.2 feature on the HTC One are you looking forward to the most? Gallery
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| Meet Android and Me: Brooks Barnard Posted: 02 Jul 2013 08:42 AM PDT Hi AAM friends. I’m Brooks Barnard. I’m a graduate student at Washington State University. I’m married to a beautiful wife and we have two kids together. I enjoy watching sports, especially Formula 1 and BYU football. I also really really like me some Android.
I was born in San Diego, CA. During the time I spent there, I loved playing on the beaches and competing in BMX. When I was seven, my father picked up a job at this company named Microsoft and moved us to Redmond, WA. So, I don’t really claim California as where I’m from. I grew up in Redmond and it was pretty good to me.
It was during this time that I purchased my first smartphone. I had always resisted having mobile phones. In high school my parents gave me a phone that was my dad’s old work phone but I “accidentally” lost it because I didn’t want my mom to always be able to get a hold of me. While at college, I finally gave in and began carrying a flip phone. My wife was way into phones, and when our contracts ended on our parents’ plans we obviously began shopping around for phones and providers. I can’t remember where we read this exactly, but I specifically remember reading around 2009 to basically stay away from any smartphones that weren’t iPhones or BlackBerrys. We were planning to switch to T-Mobile, and I remember a rep trying to sell me on a G1, but we passed. My wife was set on the BlackBerry 8900 and had to beg me to get a smartphone. She convinced me to also pick up an 8900, and the joke’s on her, I basically became obsessed with mobile technology after that. About a month before I graduated with my BS in Mechanical Engineering, we had our son. Our son will choose watching Myth Busters over Yo Gabba Gabba any day (I’m the one that likes Yo Gabba Gabba), and I’m sure he’s another engineer in the making. His current favorite things to learn about are volcanoes and dams. He tells everyone he’s a vulcanologist and is pretty sure he knows EVERYTHING at the ripe old age of four because “he’s a scientist.”
I mentioned I also have a daughter. We had her about 22 months ago and she’s a perfect addition to our family. She’s all girl. She loves wearing necklaces and pretty shoes. She’s a little firecracker and we love having her around. Her current favorite things are: Not letting me help her climb or descend stairs anymore and pretending to change her doll’s diapers. While I was on T-Mobile and was looking around for my next device after the 8900, I stumbled upon TmoNews. I followed David’s blog pretty religiously and bought my first Android phone on T-Mobile the day it was released, the T-Mobile G2x made by LG. I actually strongly disliked that phone, but it didn’t stop me from sticking with Android Then one day, David was looking for some interns at DroidDog and I applied. This was a little over a year ago. One of my favorite things about writing for an Android news source is sharing apps and ways to improve the Android experience. It really makes my day when I’m able to help and interact with you. This is what makes this job really fun. What I’m most excited aboutI’m really excited to be writing for Android and Me. This is an amazing Android site with a great crew of writers. Coming over here has made me feel like a novice all over again, but I enjoy learning and I’m excited to learn how I can best contribute here. I’m super excited about the future and interacting with you though posts, comments and threads. The Android and Me readers love to comment and interact, and I couldn’t be more excited. At DroidDog we didn’t have a forum, and I’m super excited to have a forum to ask and answer questions. I recently wrote a post about improving your experience with your Nexus 7, and it was clear to me that there are plenty of readers here who are very technical and know their stuff regarding Android. I’m excited provide help and ideas as well as get help and ideas from you friends. I’m way excited to be here. What I’m going to do here at Android and MeFor now, it looks like I’ll be contributing with a little bit of everything. I’ll do a little news, editorials, reviews, and I’d like to get some more polls going with AAM. I’ll be sharing my opinions that will be my own. They may or may not be the same as other writers on the site. Additionally, as I already stated, as I find out awesome things to do with my Android devices I want to share them with you. I want everyone to have a rad experience with Android. I think Android is awesome. What devices have I owned?I’m just going to list smartphones here (in order): BlackBerry 8900, T-Mobile G2x by LG, Samsung Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch, Sprint Samsung Galaxy Nexus, GSM Samsung Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 4. Tablets (in order): Vizio Vtab1008 (I obviously pick my first Android devices wisely #sarcasm), Nexus 7, I owned 2 different Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0s at different times, and a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. What phone do I daily drive?I’m currently using the 16 GB Nexus 4 on AT&T. I’m running CM10.1 stable build and I typically run the stable Franco.Kernel. I basically run this Rom-kernel combo because I’ve been really lazy about modding my device lately, and these offer the customization I want with stability and little effort. However, lately I’m dealing with this issue where my Nexus 4 won’t charge beyond 85% and I’m trying to work that out. This device may be going back to warranty soon. Facts about me
Well, that’s probably enough about me. Let me know if you have any other questions. I’ll try to be around as often as I can today to answer back and comment. You will most likely find me on Twitter, and I’d love to talk to you there. I also have neglected Facebook and G+ profiles. THANK YOU for the warm welcome here. I’m super excited to be a part of your community. |
| AT&T turns on 35 new 4G LTE markets, expands in 17 others Posted: 02 Jul 2013 07:22 AM PDT Now that Verizon has finished their initial LTE rollout, it’s time for AT&T to kick into hyperdrive and play a little catch-up. Today, the company is working to do just that; AT&T has lit up 35 new LTE markets and is expanding in 17 others. Without further ado, here’s the immense list of new LTE markets:
As you can see, these new LTE markets are going to affect a lot of people. But wait, there’s more! AT&T also decided to expand in 17 existing LTE markets. Here’s that list:
The competition between the carriers and their LTE networks is really beginning to heat up with Verizon still in the lead in terms of coverage. AT&T is quickly gaining, though, and Sprint is trying to push new LTE markets out as fast as it can. T-Mobile is way behind in the coverage department, but if the company can roll out LTE-Advanced before anybody else then it may have a shot at gaining a leg up on the competition. Right now, we’re just going to have to wait and see how things pan out with the carriers and their LTE networks. How many of you are affected by these new and expanded markets? |
| Motorola DROID ULTRA pops up on new landing page Posted: 02 Jul 2013 06:41 AM PDT Motorola hasn’t released any new hardware for a good while, so it comes as no surprise that we’re now seeing an influx of rumors about new Motorola hardware. The latest rumor to pop up comes from Motorola’s own site; a new landing page for the Motorola DROID ULTRA has popped up. Not much is on the site, but a small text box tells us to “think thin” and that the DROID ULTRA will be available in “a bunch of glossy colors.” That same text box talks about a DuPont Kevlar body and says that “you can be even thinner and still be tough as steel.” That’s all that we really know for now. There’s a spec list on the page, but as Droid Life noted it’s entirely identical to the RAZR M’s spec list. We can assume that means the specs are likely a placeholder. With all that said, it doesn’t sound like this is the Moto X for Verizon. But it could be part of a new lineup of phones for Motorola that includes the Moto X. This lineup is likely to take the place of the current RAZR lineup on Verizon. The Moto X could possibly be available on all carriers. It’s good to see that Motorola appears to have a plan going forward, and we’re certainly excited to get our grubby, little hands on these new devices. What do you guys think the DROID ULTRA will be? |
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